Closing Financial Gaps for Contributory Schemes

This presentation shares the International Labour Organization's (ILO) two-dimensional approach for the extension of social security: the vertical and horizontal approach. The former progressively ensures higher levels protection while the latter guarantees access to essential health care and minimum income security for all. It also recommends ways social protection and insurance can be more responsive to people's needs. Particularly, it discusses the role non-contributory pensions can play to extend coverage and reduce poverty.

Financial Challenges of Meeting SDGs in Timor Leste

Timor-Leste has several options to overcome the financial challenges that hinder it from meeting its SDG targets. It can increase its revenues by improving collections and creating additional taxes. It can also reallocate public expenditure by redirecting funds from inefficient programs. These presentation discusses various measures Timor-Leste can take to diminish its social protection gap across sectors.

Closing the Social Protection Gap: The Potential Contribution of Social Assistance

Social assistance programs are valuable instruments that can help the marginalized cope with or even escape poverty. They can effectively ensure basic income security for impoverished children, adults, and the elderly. However, more needs to be done to ensure their wider coverage and adequacy, especially in the Asia Pacific Region, where many countries still need to raise budget allocations for social protection systems.

ADB, Social Protection, and the SDGs: Emerging Challenges in Asia and the Pacific

ADB Strategy 2030 envisions a prosperous, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient Asia. To realize this vision, developing member-countries (DMC) need to build their capacity to provide adequate social protection. ADB currently supports governments in developing systems and programs that will expand their social protection coverage and help them achieve SDGs.

Ayako Inagaki

Ayako Inagaki is the Director of ADB's South East Asia Department, Human and Social Development Division. She leads the planning, implementation, and supervision of ADB's lending and non-lending operations in the social sectors, that includes education and skills development, health, and social protection. Ms. Inagaki is also the Chair of ADB's Health Sector Group where she guides the preparation and implementation of the health sector group work plan which sets out priorities and targets based on ADB's Operational Plan for Health 2015-2020.

The Food Stamp Program: A Secret History of the First Targeted Benefit in Mongolia

Back in 2008, Mongolia suffered from the highest inflation rate in Asia, reaching up to 30%. This led to lower food quality, especially for women and limited funds for education and health needs. The government, through ADB assistance, established a food stamp program to help the poor buy critical food items. This presentation shares how this program was succesfully implemented and how it helped ease the burden of those affected by the crisis.